KR20000062449A - Coding system and method for linking physical items and corresponding electronic online information to the physical items - Google Patents

Abstract

A method is disclosed for providing a link between online computer information associated with a physical item and the physical item by assigning coded data to each physical item. The coded data can be printed where appropriate on the physical item. The code uniquely associates stored computer data with the physical item associated with the physical item accessed over the Internet. When the user enters the code into the computer, the electronic data associated with the coded physical item is retrieved by accessing through the Internet or a similar communication network, and the electronic data is then stored in the user's electronic vault.

Description

CODING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LINKING PHYSICAL ITEMS AND CORRESPONDING ELECTRONIC ONLINE INFORMATION TO THE PHYSICAL ITEMS}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the coding of physical items, and more particularly to a coding technique for linking a physical item with online computer electronic information associated with the physical item.

Coding indications, such as bar codes, have been used with physical items such as retail, manufactured and printed materials for many purposes, such as sorting, cataloging, selling prices, authors, mailings, and the like. The present invention provides a novel coding technique for physical items that link physical items with related online electronic computer information. This electronic information can then be displayed, printed or similarly conveyed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for assigning a code to each physical item, thereby providing a link between the physical item and online computer information associated with the physical item. This code is attached where appropriate on the physical item.

This code uniquely associates a physical item with stored computer data associated with that physical item. When a user enters this code into a computer, electronic data associated with the coded physical item is retrieved by being accessed through the Internet or a similar communication network and stored in the user's electronic archive.

1 is a flow diagram illustrating method steps in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web, computer users have access to a significant amount of information related to physical items. For example, if the physical item is a specific wrist watch, the code may be associated with the physical item indicating the manufacturer and model. In the present invention, a computer user inputs a code to the Internet through a computer keyboard or a scanner so that the current price of the watch, a place and method of purchasing the watch, a place to send the watch for repair, a parts list of the watch, etc. You can access an Internet site associated with the watch that can provide the same significant information to the user. As such, publishers of many newspapers and magazines have provided their printed and electronic online versions of the media. The printed version is a better print than a computer display, so I want to read it more. However, the electronic version is quite good at searching and archiving.

In an embodiment of the present invention with respect to a document, the present invention provides a method for use where a user wants to read an article in a print format and preserve the document. However, the user may not have physical space to store the printed matter, or may want to avoid congestion and store a copy in digital form on the computer so that the user can access and retrieve the document later.

The following description relates to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the physical item is a document, and the present invention provides a method of reducing the need to collect and store a document and automating document clipping processing. It also makes it easier to search for documents. The online and print versions do not have to correspond exactly. The online version augments the printed version with more information, related data, breaking news, multimedia offers, and the like that cannot be captured at printing.

Referring to FIG. 1, a flow is disclosed that discloses an embodiment of a method step in accordance with the present invention. In step 10 of FIG. 1, coding data associated with a physical item is collected and also provided an interface for conveying this data to a user computer. In a next step 12, a computer input message from the user is formed by merging the code numbers associated with the collected data to attach this input message to the target client or to a website for information retrieval. In step 14, the retrieved information is sent to the selected destination.

In a particular example of the invention, the information to be retrieved may be a document desired by the user. The input from the user merges the code number for the physical item (document) that the user wants. The supply system reads the code number, retrieves an electronic copy of the desired document and displays it on the user monitor. The document code number can be a simple number or a bar code. If the document code number is a number, the user enters it manually through the computer keyboard, and if it is a bar code, the scanner scans it and the user does not need to remember this code number. When a document code number is entered by a scanner connected to the user's computer, the online document can be retrieved by automatically starting the connection to the online data. It can also operate to store the retrieved online information in an appropriate location in the user electronic vault. If desired, a combination of manual input and scanner input can be used. For example, multiple document code numbers can be scanned simultaneously. Then, when the user connects this scanner to the computer, all captured document codes will be processed one by one.

In particular, the user input may include the target client as well as the document code in manual input or scan input. The target client is the client that wants to receive the document code. For example, the target client may be on a machine to which the scanner is directly interfaced, or may be a server on the Internet or intranet computer to which the user is connected. The target client may be identified by a uniquely assigned identification address, such as its IP address. When the target client receives input with client identification associated with the document code, the target client accesses a storage table that maps the document to the URL to identify the corresponding URL. The target client makes a web (http, shttp, ftp, etc.) request for the corresponding URL and instructs the URL data to be sent directly to the user's computer or to be sent to the user's computer via the target client.

The bar code used in the present invention may be composed of, for example, the left half and the right half of the cord. The left half has a Quiet Zone (9 white modules), a Guard Pattern (3 modules), a category (7 modules) and a manufacturer (35 modules), and the right half has a product identification (35 modules). , Inspection digit (7 modules), protective pattern (3 modules) and Quiet zone (9 modules). The left half and the right half are separated by a central protective pattern (5 modules).

The method of the present invention fully automates the process of associating printed materials with corresponding online electronic versions of the materials and reduces the time and effort spent by the user.

Note that some printed materials must provide a web page address after the printed version of the document. In addition, the method of the present invention fully automates this process and reduces the burden on the user.

As noted above, the present invention can be extended for use with other physical items. In addition, the present invention can be used with other techniques. For example, the disclosed method can also be extended to Radio Excerpts. Imagine listening to a radio station, just as you hear something important when you are traveling in a car. For example, you are listening to tickets for a concert you want to go to. A feature of the present invention is that you can hit the record button on your radio right away. The radio, for example, records information about the concert on a smart card and stores enough data to provide to the online version of the ticket sales counter. Upon arrival at your nearest store where you can get home or buy your tickets. Unplug the radio or part of the radio, such as a smart card with recorded data from your car, plug it into your computer or your telephone line and take it to an online store where you can buy your ticket. Therefore, the whole process of buying your ticket is very simple. You don't need to record your phone number or web address while driving. This can apply to, for example, new items, sport scores, stock reports, etc. as well as others. In each case, the web / internet data will be sent along a radio signal that can be recorded by the radio. The radio itself may not be able to connect to the Internet. When the user hits the record button, the radio records the relevant internet data. As explained in the above example, the recorded Internet data is later used at some point in connecting to the Internet, allowing the user to obtain more information from the Internet.

The radio itself, or a portion thereof, is detachable and has an interface for connecting to a computer or to a telephone via serial, parallel, USB or other portion. When connected to a computer or videophone, the user can reach a corresponding website. If you are connected to a telephone, you can take you to the telephone agent for your company.

The internet data itself may include a web address for the relevant piece of information, or may be a numeric or barcode.

Instead, Internet data may be constructed from auxiliary data such as the frequency of radio broadcasts, local time of day, latitude and longitude of the place where the information was recorded. This information can then be sent to a central server. Internet searches are performed on the server where the transmitted data and online information is located. This search may be a simple search if the service provider and the broadcaster have a standardized way of representing internet data. The search may be more complicated if it does not meet the standard, but the broadcaster should not change his broadcast. Other items, such as physical objects, may have an id tag that can be read by a tag reader and sent to an internet accessible device. For example, children's toys can be updated from a website on the Internet, that is, the term of the talking doll can be changed from English to German.

It is to be understood that the foregoing is intended to illustrate the invention but is not intended to be limiting. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and alternatives may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is intended to embrace such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (16)

CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A method for coding a physical item to associate online computer electronic information associated with physical items: Providing an interface for collecting coding data associated with the physical item and conveying the data to a user computer; Based on the collected data, a computer input message from the computer user is generated by merging a code number associated with the collected data to send the input message to a target client or directly to a website for information retrieval. Forming; Transmitting the retrieved information to a selected destination The method for coding a physical item comprising a. The method of claim 1, And forming information to retrieve based on the collected data. The method of claim 1, The step of transmitting the retrieved information to the selected destination, Transmitting the retrieved information to another electronic data processor. The method of claim 1, The step of transmitting the retrieved information to the selected destination, Transmitting the information to the computer user, and displaying the search information on the computer display screen. The method of claim 4, wherein The step of transmitting the retrieved information to the computer user, Printing the retrieved information. The method of claim 1, And the code number associated with the physical item is a bar code placed on the physical item. The method of claim 4, wherein And the physical item is a Printed Document. The method of claim 6, And the physical item is an article of manufacture. The method of claim 1, And wherein the computer input message comprises an address for a particular target supply system. The method of claim 1, And wherein the computer input message is a radio signal transmitted by a computer input device. The method of claim 1, And wherein the computer input message comprises a physical item classification, list, sale price, author, mailing, and the like. The method of claim 1, And said retrieved information is classified by item number, retrieved data, size, etc., and stored on said user computer. The method of claim 1, And the coded information is further encrypted. The method of claim 10, The radio signal comprises a radio extract of internet data recorded on a detachable memory device, wherein the radio signal comprises information related to the radio broadcast. The method of claim 14, And the radio signal is capable of being associated with a video transmission signal. A computer usable medium having a computer readable program code implemented to link a physical item with computer online information corresponding to the physical item, the computer readable program code comprising: Computer readable program code for causing a computer to collect coding data associated with the physical item and to pass the data to the computer; Computer readable program code for causing the computer to merge the code number associated with the collected data to send a computer input message to a target client or to a website for information retrieval to form the computer input message; Computer readable program code for transmitting the collected search information data to the selected destination Computer readable program code comprising a.